natural girls
Comments
-
My heart goes out to you Marianna. It is really tough to be treated like this. The same thing happened to me after I finished treatments. I was stabbed in the back by a couple of women whom I thought were my friends. They literally stole my job. But as I look back, I realize it was a blessing. The woman who had the job before me got cancer too, and died. I think the job is cursed, very stressful, and it was pretty thankless. I worked very hard for little pay, and still could never make people happy. I decided to let go of the hurt and anger and move on. I figure those women will get theirs in the end. If you act unethically, it will eventually come back to haunt you. Now they can have all the stress of working for people who do not appreciate them.
When all this fell into my lap, I decided to just do something I love. I went back to writing, started my website, and fell into working with some amazing people with Usana who share my passion for health. I can't tell you how heartening it is to be around people who are not only healthy and vibrant, but they sincerely want to help others. Everything happens for a reason.
0 -
This is a topic we have not really talked about much but one that has really irritated me for a long time after I started to research it. I posted links on my website in Feb. news about the new study that shows how taking out lymph nodes does not affect outcome. All I can say is IT IS ABOUT TIME! It always seemed so barbaric that so many lymph nodes are removed until they supposedly find ones that are non cancerous. After a lot of study on the lymphatic system, it became obvious to me that the nodes are vital to getting toxins out of our body. When they are removed, how can we clear the toxins? It is more likely they will go through the bloodstream, which we all know is how we end up with deadlier cancer; Not to mention the pain from lymph node removal because it tears into such important muscles, and of course the horrible side effect of lympedema. Other countries have stopped removing so many lymph nodes a while ago. As usual, we have to see too many people suffer before we change the status quo in the US.
If anyone is in the Chicago area, I will be teaching a rebounding workshop next week. It is free. PM me and I will give you the info. As I have said before, I believe rebounding is the MOST important exercise we must do to stay healthy. If we can move the lymph, it will pass through the liver and kidneys and out. We must have open pathways to detox in order to stay healthy. And the far infared sauna is an important part of detox too. I sit in mine almost daily. Not only does it feel great, but is the best way to bring the toxins in the lymphatic system to the surface. Much faster than going through the digestive system.
Off to get my 4th thermograph today. I am excited that I just found a new doctor who does them in my town so I do not have to go to the city anymore. I am anxious to see if the effects of all that radiation is finally starting to disappear with all the detoxing I do. I hope the FIR has helped, because it is so upsetting to me to see all that red from rads, three years later! Why do they talk us into all this crap! How I regret ever doing radiation. I just did not do the research then. I was just being a good little patient and following doctors orders, even though I was freaking out inside. We tried to have a discussion about it here, but the naysayers kept attacking and it was taken down. It was so sad, because people need to know both sides. We should have the choice and be given all the facts. Thankfully, I never had many side effects from rads, but I attribute this to not following doctors orders!
0 -
Marianna- I'm so sorry about your job loss. Like Vivre, I have had to change job paths ( in my case closed my retail stores because of the &^%$ economy). Only now in hindsight am I grateful that I had to. I didn't realize how stressful it was for me. I am now operating only online, developing my new bath and body products, spend much more time with my family. I even have time to exercise....now if I only would! I wish you strength and good luck going through this.
As we are all concerned with chemicals and things we absorb through our skin, I thought this article would be of interest. It also drives home that too much of anything (in this case zinc) can be bad. It seems that Poligrip denture adhesive has tons of zinc. There are now many cases of people sueing as the excess buildup of zinc causes copper and iron to not be absorbed which can result in terrible, disabling nerve damage. Sorry, my link thing won't work, you will have to copy and paste.
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2010/jan/18/zinc-in-denture-adhesives-blamed-for-nerve/
0 -
I feel like I belong on the island of misfit toys!!!! Awhile back I came here and posted of my experience of a natural but controversial treatment and got flogged, so I put my tail between my legs and scooted off to other threads thinking I was not versed enough yet to hang out here. I am vegetarian, juice several times a day, exercise, meditate, bow to my naturopath, take loads of supplements and have my rebounder in my bedroom!!!! I post on other threads, and get flogged about how perfumes diet and plastic bottles didn't cause our cancers, so pass the Big Macs and French fries etc. ....and it completely freaks me out. I think I belong here more than over there!!! Can I be an honorary natural girl light???
0 -
Geewiz,
It's not up to me but if it were, I'd say, welcome, girl. I got trounced off a blog of doctors because I believe western and eastern meds can work together against cancer. I was accused of being a spammer and got some choice curse words thrown my way by these docs when I posted links to Hopkins studies and bunches of other evidence-based studies strongly suggesting that adding natural herbs and supplements and eating high volumes of anti-oxidants can actually help in the fight. It's nice when we can all take in and learn from each other and even be friendly about it! I'm a newcomer here, but the ladies seem nice to me. I'm glad to hear from you. Rachel
0 -
Hi Vivre,
My breast surgeon took out 16 nodes and only 2 were positive. But she said they all looked suspicious. Based on the level of necrosis - how abnormal the cells looked and that it was grade 3, triple negative, I feel like in my case she did the right thing. I do have to see a physical therapist intermittently for short periods who has taught me how to do a lymphedema massage on myself.
But I'm with you; it's barbaric to take them out when there are no reasons to be real concerned. I thought more surgeons are getting a little smarter about taking nodes. I know my husband's aunt had tons of them uneccesarily removed about 12 years ago and all were negative. She's had trouble since. But she got a new breast cancer a couple of years ago and this time they only took, I think 2 nodes. They took only a couple with my cousin and mom whose cancer was caught early. I'm hearing that's becoming more standard practice. Fortunately!
0 -
Vivre, what's the link to your website? I'd love to see it. I'm a health writer and have a cancer site (focused on wellness and getting better and all good things!)
0 -
Thanks Rachel! My naturopath is Eastern Medicine primarily. He used to be an oncologist, and crossed over after seeing skewed research. He has family members sitting on the boards of my university research hospital and butts heads with them constantly. Its funny. He tailored a plan of high dose vitamin c infusions, nutritional iv's with supplements to get me through chemo, Chinese dirt teas ( horrific tasting, but my counts stayed high) and accupuncture. He also taught me the importance of meditation. The studies are all out there..pubmed is loaded with them supporting an integrated approach. Good for you for trying to speak out. My sis is an md. She sqid that the amount of time focused on nutrition in her education amounted to 30 minutes...amazing. When I show her studies, she is astounded. She actually has changed the way she practices a little as a result, making recommendations she didn't use to...so I think it's a step at a time for everybody!
0 -
Hey Geewiz, count me in on your island of misfits. Isn't great to be able to come to a thread where everyone is open-minded, kind and very informed? I am an omnivore (grass fed), but what's great is that we can all hang out here even though we have different lifestyles and benefit from one another. I have felt very welcome here as well. Thanks ladies.
0 -
marianna, I too am so sorry your employer fired you. Surely it will be a blessing in the long run to be free of people who treat you that way. Like you said, they could have restructured in a way that kept you if they wanted. They didn't. The important thing right now is to keep stress at bay. My favorite thing to pamper myself is a long hot bath.
vivre, I heard that story on last night's news also. They listed some of the complications associated with lymph node removal, and they didn't even mention lymphedema! And there was no mention of the sentinal node biopsy option, which greatly reduces the number of nodes taken and has been around for YEARS. But, where I live, perhaps it will be news. I remember one woman who was on the same timeline as me for treatments. I went to New Orleans for my surgery and she stayed local. I saw her a couple of months after surgery, and she was SO happy because they didn't find cancer in ANY of the 30 nodes they took.
I've heard since then that even snb's are questionable. For me at the time, however, I felt so lucky to have the snb option. My mom had her surgery in 1980 and they yanked every node in sight. And thanks to the local surgeon I saw who apparently missed the class where they discussed types of bc other than ductal, my tumor received an extra 9 months to grow. That one still chaps my hide. There was no cancer found in my sentinal nodes and it seemed like nothing short of a miracle at the time.
geewhiz, there's quite a few topics here in the alternative section that get heated. Just try starting a thread about a Suzanne Somers book! You won't get very far before the trouncing begins. This thread is the one place that serves as a shelter from the storm and we can talk in peace.
0 -
Althea, Vivre, Deanna, RachelKA, DesignerMom, did I leave anyone off? THANK YOU for your words. I know that this will be good in the long run.... it's just a bit disruptive right now. I so totally don't want to go into "prove it" mode with another job, but now I am forced to. Unless I can figure out how to do something that pays well yet is something I am interested in. Hmmm. Gotta think about that. I actually do like what I do, and I really like the company, but I obviously got onto somebody's layoff list?!? I know it's because my performance in the past year was not stellar. I just did enough to get by, and I guess it was noticed!! But, truly, I laughed so hard about the hairs. What a great attitude to have... gotta remember to keep that attitude throughout this experience.....
0 -
MBJ-
Thanks for the link on low body temp. I can't wait to read it!
Beth
0 -
Geewiz,
Would you mind asking your naturopath if he'd consider guest blogging for me once or twice a month? He could post links to his site. I'm adding an integrative cancer care page and currently have a licensed practical counselor who works with cancer patients, a nurse who's an herbologist with a Western bent, and a restorative yoga instructor who's also an herbologist with Eastern training. So now I'm looking for a medical doctor who understands western and eastern medicine and a pastoral counselor. My site's www.1UpOnCancer.com I'm a writer of 25 years, mainly health. And of course a recent bc survivor; I've got my work cut out for me these days, I guess!
Thanks for getting back to me either way.
Rachel
0 -
Too bad they wont give you a chance if you're feeling more up to speed. Many companies just arent do loyal I guess. What do you do in your work?0 -
Vivre-When I saw the news story on TV about ALND you can probably imagine my response. Pffff! that's old news!! Hopefully the 'new discovery' <tongue in cheek> will spare others from becoming disabled as a result.
BTW I was ostracized from the breast cancer support group at my hospital (Hoag in Newport Beach, CA) for sharing this information with others who didn't want to hear about. This along with information about radiation dosages, Cold Caps to prevent hairloss during chemotherapy ended up in my expulsion from the group. It infuriates me how a minority of veteran BC survivors can dictate what is allowed to be discussed at a 'Support Group'. Afterall, it is a 'group' and I am a part of it, or was. Not everybody wants to bury their head in the sand. I for one want to know everything! One is able to make a good choice only when they have all the information! Censorship does NOT allow one choices, period.
0 -
To those who may not know, i changed my user name from Barry to evebarry. When someone thought perhaps I might be a guy, I changed it.
Rahelka, I started a tread on reservatrol. It's new to me. If the claims of resveratrol is true then its a miracle product. My lumpectomy was schedule yesterday, and rescheduled today for March 8th. Do you think it's possible that reseveratrol could destroy the tumor before surgery?
0 -
Beth: You are welcome! I would really like to get some feedback on what everyone thinks.
makingway: wow, I can't believe that this happened to you! doesn't sound like any support group I've ever been to!!??
0 -
Althea-Did you hear Robert Young in the Great Debate? What a nutcase! Does the guy just live on avocados? How can anyone say eating protein is bad. Our body is made up of protein. Maybe we should schedule an online chat on my website and we can compare notes? One of the comments that all these speakers seem to agree on is how data and studies can be skewed, as we here, are always discussing. I thought Donna Gates' comment about that was interesting.
MakingWay-I have been ostracized by my hospital too. I tried to talk them into letting me take part in the annual pinko month "awareness" campaign. All I wanted to do was talk about prevention. The coordinator actually hung up on me because I dared to complain how upsetting it was for me that I was not given more information about integrative care. I loved and respected my doctors, still do, but it infuriates me that they only push the slash, burn and drug treatments.
MBJ-I still haven't read all of your link. It looks great. I have it bookmarked so I will get to it when I can. These 2 hour podcasts are keeping me on overload.
Geewhiz and Impositiv-We are all misfits here. That is why we stay in our corner, where we can talk freely. You have no idea the animosity that many of us have dealt with on other threads. That is why we never start threads anymore. It just invites the debate. I could care less if others do not want to consider anything we natural girls do. What I have a problem with are those who want to deny us the right to talk about it. As you have found, they can be quite nasty.
Is anyone going to the annieappleseed convention in Fl in March? I am considering it.
0 -
I started my Tamoxifen this week and immediatley I have insomnia. someone told me to take glycine that it would help. Do any of you have experience with glycine and were would be a good place to order on line. I live in a small rural area and will not be going to the city for a couple of weeks.
0 -
MBJ,
I started reading that web page you suggested and I'm hooked on the information and the author's problem solving approach in exploring what low body temp means and how it's fixed. I also liked his engineering notion that addressing 20% fixes 80%.
http://www.fixlowbodytemp.com/papers/LowTemp.htm
But it is a long article and I want to print it up so I can read it carefully. Thank you for sending it.
0 -
Count me in as a misfit.
I don't believe we can win anyone over by being rude or abusive and we shouldn't have to hide our views in an anonymous thread for fear of angry and demeaning comments. I welcome factual debate but when people generalise and are disrespectful I wonder if they have a heart. (You don't like the medical system? Well then I'll assume you must hate all doctors and believe in some conspiracy theory so it's OK for me and all my friends to gang up and abuse you as if you have no feelings.)
Since when did the medical system get so perfect that we could put our lives in it's hands without question?
Since when were we expected to be qualified before we questioned anything? How are we supposed to learn without questioning? When they say "informed consent" do they mean informed of their conventional view to the exclusion of everything else including common sense?
In a few decades our children will look back on some of today's treatments and shake their heads, just as we look back now at old practices with horror.
Pardon me for ranting. I'm off to bed. Maybe I'll wake to outrage on another thread.
0 -
Interesting post on the Stage IV forum this morning, entitled "A Word Of Caution." (I tried to do a link, but it didn't work.)
I'd always assumed the the extremely high number of views vs. posts that Natural Girls gets is because many BCO members are interested in alternative & complementary medicine, yet reluctant to post for one reason or another. But the possibility that outsiders might be reading our posts to gain insight into what's hot or working in this area of medicine (the topic of that linked thread vis-a-vis trials) is creepy and disturbing. Anyway, just a word of caution re. saying anything too personal here. Deanna
0 -
Sherryc,
I started Tamoxifen in August. Before T, I slept 8 hours faithly each night my whole life. The day I started T, I went to 3 to 4 hours. That lasted 3 months then I started getting no sleep. After 9 or 10 days of no sleep, I stopped T. I have not taken Tamoxifen since 11/28 yet I still don't sleep at all unless I take an Ativan (a very addictive drug).
I've started seeing a naturopath who specializes in oncology. He said he's seen this often with women on T and has me taking supplements - CalmPRT and Kavinace to get my Gaba back in sync. He said it should take about 2 to 4 months to fix. I think he's on the right track as Ativan works on Gaba and so far that is the only thing that allows me to sleep. I believe Gaba is a neurotransmitter that tells your brain to go to sleep. After being on the supplements 2 months, last week I slept for a couple of hours without Ativan and was able to fall back to sleep for an hour. I haven't been able to fall back to sleep once awake since August.
Tons of people have insomnia on Tamoxifen that isn't as bad as mine...but thought I'd provide a word of warning. Since sleep deprivation is a form of torture, I have few kind words to say about T.
Sue
0 -
Ladies my Breast Surgeon was on the local news talking about this procedure Sental Node Biospy (SNB) I had it performed as well by HER (my life savor). Nodes came out clear.
I am definitely in favor since it literally eliminates lymphadema(?).
0 -
Thanks sue, I am willing to try some glycine or melatonan to see if it works. I am not willing to take antidepressants so I guess I will just see what happens for now.
0 -
For those just starting on Melatonin, remember to gradualy build up your tolerance. Always start out with only 1 pill and build up to whatever dose lets you sleep, with a max of 30 mg. If you wake up too groggy, just cut back one pill until you can wake up but still go back to sleep. Melatonin has been a life saver for me and it can reset your internal clock. You may have some weird dreams in the beginning but these will go away after about 2 weeks if you take it regularly. I have found sublingual 5 mg works the best for me. Also, if you are about to have surgery, they do want you to stop for two weeks prior and 2 weeks after.
Deanna: I forgot to thank you for the Vit D info and I have started breaking up when I take them
thank you so much!0 -
Sherry C-
I take both glycine and melatonin at night. I take them for reasons other than sleep issues, but they do have that effect. I take a teaspoon (4g) of glycine powder stirred in water at night.
I echo MBJ's advice on melatonin - it takes a while to work up your dose. I take 16mg a night for the anti-cancer and aromatase inhibitor effects.
My son takes Kavinace for anxiety and it does have a "sleep" effect.
MBJ - I had to print out that info, as well - it was 41pp. Hope it get to it this weekend.
Sheila - I love every post of yours - you are always the calm voice of reason.
Beth
0 -
Hi Evaberry (very feminine
I dont know about reservatrol having the power to destroy tumors. That's one I'd have to see what the data says. But something interesting I heard about Vit
I'd talked to a woman whose been working with vit d and breast cancer for 25 years, and when she applied it directly to human bc tumors, the tumors shrunk significantly in all types of breast cancers she looked at - postive for ER, PR and or HER2. And negative for any and all receptors. I thought that was pretty interesting.0 -
MBJ,
I've been having lots of weird dreams and now by what you're saying I'm wondering if it's the melatonin cause I have started and stopped the supplement. But I was having weird dreams before - maybe just more lately
0 -
RachelKa: Most definetly! It's important to be constant with the melatonin!
0
